Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Non-custodial parent stating will not return children from visitation

If he does not return the children you may need to get a Writ to pick up the children. You might be able to use the District Attorney child stealing unit in the county that he is located. I would start now to locate the child stealing unit (it may have different names in different counties) find out what you will need to provide that DA if and when he refuses to return the children. You should obtain three certified copies of your current custody order so you are prepared. Hopefully, 45 days will expire before the children need to return to school so that it is very clear that he has kept them too long. You may also wish to contact CPS in the county where he lives to report the abuse of your daughter. If the DA cannot help you find an attorney in that county that knows how to do a "Warrant in Lieu of Habeas Corpus". Law Enforcement will "arrest" the child and take them into protective custody and then turn the over to you. In the meantime, they may search his home and decide to investigate the child abuse from last year. He is in for a difficult time and is creating more problems for himself than he can imagine. If the attorney has never done one before, move on to the next attorney, they are fairly simple once you have done one, but they are simple mess up, if you haven't done one. When you know the steps that need to be taken, you can then inform him that you are prepared to have the children picked up. California courts lack jurisdiction to modify the current custody order and he must return to the state the issued the order, or the state the you are currently living in to modify the order. You are in a very strong position legally, hopefully, it doesn't cost you a lot of money to exercise your rights. Good Luck, Pat McCrary